I guess there are still a few living legends floating around in music today. Not to detract from the mean feat that it is, in the red corner we have the new school – the adolescents who have taken a page out of the books of the wise and the established. And in the blue, we have the old school – those who have been around for a little longer and seen a little more. And then there are the likes of Carl Cox who have fostered an entire career around music, watching it ebb and flow – witnessing its ups and downs – and always being there as a genre enters another spin cycle. To be honest, I’m not interested in whether the train-spotters were impressed by his last set or whether his most recent piece of production is “the shit”. This guy is a certified living legend; those that remember the 1990s and the culmination of the early rave scene – when parties started being held at the Palace and Sven Väth was still an obscure German – will vouch for that.
Anyway, the big bastard is back with a new mix CD titled “Back to Mine”. The cover art labels it ‘a personal collection for after hours grooving’. It is therefore, a compilation of classics – super old school – that many of us (including myself) are not entirely familiar with. “I chose 120 records and had to narrow it down 16! Each one is very important to me, in fact all of them are dear to my heart. I have a history that goes back to 1976 and this mix is designed to highlight my influences”. Needless to say, this isn’t a techno mix – rather it features everything from Diana Ross to Redman – even seminal classics like ‘Sound of Blackness – Everything gonna be alright’, ‘Timmy Tomas – Stay a Little While’ and ‘Bill Summers – Feel the Heat’ feature. Cox states “it’s a really good concept for DMC [records]. It’s a great series they’ve put out and I’m happy to be a part of it. They are up to release 19, but it’s an important choice, when it comes to music”. Modest as always, he is nevertheless honest – “I have always been there, I am lucky enough to have been one of the most pivotal DJz around for many years and this helps me represent what I and they are about!” Continuity in this mix is interesting too, for the 17 tracks range from 90 through 130 beats per minute. So how did such a seamless mix come together? “I surprised myself to be honest. I managed to mix 131 bpm to 98 and back – so from track 1 its all about how I was introduced to music”. Recorded at Café Mambo, Ibiza, in the Spanish summer, the mix is completely live – no engineers and edits. “When you play live you don’t get the opportunity to go back, so I wanted it the same”. Coming from the guy who has 100,000+ records, you can imagine the difficulty involved in putting together such an album. Regardless, it was done and the result is an interesting one, if altogether not quite Carl Cox. This is not a purist mix, my belief is that it is designed to connect the old and the new – to give his fans an idea of where he came from and what he enjoyed listening to way back when.
Further to the CD, he adds “a lot has gone on since I was in Melbourne last. I have been honing in on the Spanish scene – Space at Ibiza is now absolutely amazing since I started as a resident. They gave me the chance to lead the way and to support people on a Tuesday night and the results have been great. Also in the same time, I have been working on a live concept – with people like Norman Cook and Roni Size – I have had the chance to clash my music with theirs and create something really unique while at the same time, learning something new. Look out for it around April 2005”. Most importantly though, the big man has bought a house on the peninsula near Melbourne recently and plans to spend some time living here over the summer. “I’ve got close friends down there and I enjoy Australia on a social basis. I want to build a studio and work on that”. Really though, more pressing matters are on the agenda – like, will he be taking to the turntables in Melbourne over the summer? “I think I’m going to have to have a little welcoming party – I think it’ll have to happen”. The Lord is listening. Amen.
Carl Cox’s ‘Back To Mine’ is out now through DMC.
